Hulk Becomes Bruce Banner In She-Hulk

With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings revealing Bruce Banner back in human form, the theory that he stopped being Smart Hulk during the events of She-Hulk makes sense. Just like Steve Rogers' biggest conflict involves keeping his patriotic persona from absorbing the skinny kid from Brooklyn and just like Tony Stark's biggest battle is with himself, Bruce Banner's lifelong struggle has been balancing the scientist and the monster. However, the MCU has skipped over some crucial stages in Banner's conflict with the Hulk, which can finally be explored in depth in She-Hulk.

Despite its lukewarm reception, The Incredible Hulk succeeded in its depiction of Hulk as a nightmare for Bruce Banner. On top of the suffering that Banner's alter ego brings him every time he lashes out, the constant persecution from General Ross and the authorities made Banner's life a living hell. After gaining some control over the monster with meditation techniques, the formation of the Avengers helped Bruce Banner make peace with the Hulk, at least temporarily. Once Banner realized how dangerous he can be in Avengers: Age of Ultron, his evolution in Thor Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame picked up speed and resulted in Banner and Hulk merging into a peaceful "Smart Hulk" who no longer needed to escape from himself.

Although Hulk's MCU journey seemed complete in Avengers: Endgame, the mid-credits scene in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings flips the script and presents Bruce Banner as a regular human once again. As the comics have proved throughout six decades of rage-fueled appearances, Bruce Banner simply can't live without the Hulk. But before the MCU reveals how the Jade Giant will return, She-Hulk needs to explain why and how Banner managed to revert his Smart Hulk transformation.

Shang-Chi has more than one setup for She-Hulk. Besides Bruce Banner's cameo in the mid-credits scene, it also teases Tim Roth's return as Abomination with the villain's appearance in the Macau underground fighting tournament. Abomination's presence in Shang-Chi reinforces the importance of She-Hulk, as Marvel chose the MCU characters in the Shang-Chi mid-credits scene for a reason. Including The Incredible Hulk's main hero and main villain in the same Phase 4 movie suggests answers may come soon. But for now, the only information Shang-Chi provides is that Banner has abandoned his Smart Hulk form, that the process doesn't appear to have left any negative side effects but nor did it heal Banner's arm, which he used to perform the Reverse Snap in Avengers: Endgame.

Now, what happens next can be theorized taking into account Bruce Banner's involvement in She-Hulk's origin story. In the comics, Bruce Banner gives his cousin Jennifer Walters a blood transfusion after his shot by a vengeful mobster. Not only does this save Jennifer's life, but it also grants her the same Gamma powers as Hulk. Unlike her cousin, Jennifer is able to retain her intelligence and regular temper while in Hulked-out mode. The She-Hulk Disney+ series will undoubtedly follow a variation of the same sequence of events, but what's uncertain is exactly how this will affect Bruce Banner. After all, the effects of the consumption of his blood were shown to be different in The Incredible Hulk, when Stan Lee's unnamed character died shortly after sipping a soda accidentally contaminated with Bruce Banner's blood. It wouldn't be hard to picture the blood transfusion becoming more complex in the MCU, with not only She-Hulk going through her transformation but also with Bruce Banner getting affected by it in some way or another as well.

Bruce Banner, Hulk, and Smart Hulk in the MCU

So, with Bruce Banner going from Smart Hulk back to his human form between Avengers: Endgame and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and with Jennifer Walters' transformation into She-Hulk likely happening somewhere along the way, the blood transfusion may be the moment when Bruce Banner either loses or transfers the ability to transform into the Hulk. However, if that's the case, this theory lacks a crucial piece She-Hulk series must explain: what makes Bruce Banner's powers and abilities as Hulk exclusively transferable instead of duplicable. If a comic-accurate blood transfusion is all Jennifer Walters needs to become She-Hulk, then Bruce Banner shouldn't lose his Gamma radiation, as it has no reason to leave his body through blood only. The series needs to come up with an additional variable then — that is, if Bruce Banner's latest transformation isn't immediately reversible.

Hulk in Thor Ragnarok and Avengers Endgame

Avengers: Endgame established that Bruce Banner "put the brain and the brawn together" after "eighteen months in a Gamma lab." Up until this point, it was seemingly clear that Banner had finally gained full control of his alter ego, leaving the MCU's original, rage-fueled Hulk in the past. But after Banner's appearance in Shang-Chi, the possibility of Savage Hulk becoming angrier and stronger becomes more likely. If Banner's conflict with the Hulk isn't over, it means that there's still space for other transformations such as Grey Hulk, Devil Hulk, Joe Fixit, and World-Breaker Hulk to appear. Although the original Avengers are retiring in Phase 4 to allow a new generation of heroes to rise, there are plenty of potential storylines the MCU could explore with Bruce Banner at the forefront.

Splitting Banner and Hulk apart could be only the beginning of even bigger conflicts down the road. Besides the resurgence of his internal conflict with his alter ego (and the literal separation of the man and the monster often seen in the comics), future MCU titles could introduce and reintroduce other Gamma-powered characters like General Ross' Red Hulk, Betty Ross' Red She-Hulk, Samuel Sterns aka The Leader, and Doc Samson. She-Hulk may be bringing Bruce Banner and Hulk back to square one, but it's unlikely that the famed scientist will lose his connection to the monster for good.

More: Abomination's MCU Future In Phase 4 After Shang-Chi